Student Stratifications
by CNJ
Summary: Book Two of "The BSC Legacy" - In tenth grade, the BSC & most students come to realize that Stoneybrook High is divided into groups & not all groups are considered equal by those at the top of the strata...
1. No Longer Freshmen

The BSC start tenth grade in this story...I know this chapter is kind of short...let the games begin...Enjoy!   
  
  
  
  


**The BSC Legacy – Book 2: Student Stratifications**

By: CNJ 

_PG-13_

**1: No Longer Freshmen**

**Kristy**: 

Mary Anne, Abby, and I have the same homeroom with Ms. Quebec, our last year's science teacher. We scrambled to a table and were talking excitedly about the upcoming year.   
"We're not freshmen anymore, thank God," Abby told us.   
"I wonder who's going to be the new chief editor of the Stoneybrook _Beacon_?" Mary Anne asked. I knew last year's editor, Gloria Getterstein had graduated and of course Mary Anne cried. Mary Anne and Gloria had been good friends.   
"Think the Barracudas will get the championship this year?" I asked, referring to our soccer team that both Abby and I were in.   
"Get some good players," Abby told us. "And yes. Speaking of players...look who's in our homeroom..." she nodded and we looked over and saw Logan Bruno, Mary Anne's ex-boyfriend two tables down. He was sitting with Jenny Tyler and they were laughing together. Some big fat guy leaned over the table and made some comment and Logan ignored him.   
"I hope he flattens Logan," I growled. I looked over at Mary Anne. She didn't seem upset to see him. I remembered how heartbroken she'd been last year when Logan had gotten too possessive. I'd been so furious with Logan for breaking Mary Anne's heart that it took all my self-control not to dump him down the nearest trash chute. It's...I mean the breakup wasn't bitter, but Mary Anne and Logan are still awkward around each other.   
"I'm over him," Mary Anne said softly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Stacey**: 

Claudia and I are two lucky people! We got the same homeroom with Ms. Zarroto. We grabbed seats next to each other and talked.   
"Guess who Josh has for homeroom?" Claudia asked, referring to her boyfriend, who's just starting ninth grade this year.   
"Who?"   
"Ms. Buchwald!"   
"No kidding," I grinned. Mary Anne and I had her last year.   
"Wonder if I'll be the sophomore photographer for the teams or designing the sophomore section for yearbook this year?" Claudia wondered. I knew she liked being on the yearbook staff. "So...you're taking trig this year, right?"   
"Yeah." I nodded. "So, Janine's off to the Navy Academy in Virginia this year?"   
"Yeah," Claudia nodded. "I'm going to miss her, even her ten-dollar words." We both laughed softly. Claudia's older sister is a computer and word whiz. 


	2. Two Different Worlds Passing By in the N...

About the last time Mary Anne and Logan interact until they're maybe around 44...I'm working on another story on the BSC at 44 to 45 and they meet again briefly...soo, here's more on the BSC's tenth grade year...this brief part is from Kerry's POV...   
  
  


**The BSC Legacy – Book 2: Student Stratifications**

By: CNJ 

_PG-13_

**2: Two Different Worlds Passing By In The Night...**   
  


**Kerry**: 

I thought I wouldn't be seeing Mary Anne again after she and Logan broke up last April, but here she was baby-sitting me and my brother. It was good seeing her again.   
"How do you like SMS?" she asked as we had a snack together.   
"It's neat," I told her. "I like being in middle school." I wondered if it was strange for her being in her ex-boyfriend's house.   
"Are you and Logan still mad at each other?" Hunter asked.   
"Hunter!" I looked down at him.   
"No..." Mary Anne hesitated a minute. "It was...we had different personalities that made staying boyfriend and girlfriend hard."   
I steered my brother into a game to keep him from asked too many personal questions about my older brother and Mary Anne. Logan didn't tell me too much about the breakup, but I knew it was really painful for both of them and they'd both cried. Mom came home about an hour later and paid Mary Anne.   
"Kerry...Hunter, I'm going now, so good-bye..." she leaned closer to us. Just then, Logan came in too. A strange look came in his blue eyes when he saw Mary Anne.   
"Hello, Mary Anne..." he finally said in a very polite voice.   
"Hello, Logan," Mary Anne's voice came out low, but also polite. They stared at each other for a long minute, then Logan looked over at Mom headed to the kitchen as if he were asking _What's she doing here?_ Mary Anne's brows drew together in a nervous frown, a small vertical line appearing between them. Then suddenly she put her arms out. Hunter and I knew just then that this would most likely be the last time we'd see her. We ran into her arms and she hugged us perhaps for one last time. "Good-bye, darlings...take care of yourselves and each other," she whispered, then stood up quickly, waved at us, grabbed her purse, then left without looking at Logan again. I got the feeling she was uncomfortable and couldn't wait to get out of the house. Logan stared after her a long minute, then looked over at us, then headed upstairs, muttering something under his breath. Good thing Dad wasn't home yet; I knew he'd never been crazy about Mary Anne. Hunter and I stood, then went into the kitchen to help Mom put away some things. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Mary Anne**: 

Why did I let myself be wheedled into baby-sitting my ex-boyfriend's younger siblings? I wondered as I biked through the brisk fall sunshine on my way to the BSC meeting. I should have asked Ms. Bruno when Logan was coming back from football practice, so I could scram before he got there. No, that's silly, I told myself. Sure, things were really awkward between us, but I'd be damned if I spent the rest of high school dodging Logan. I'd just have to learn how to deal with that awkwardness. Our relationship had been good while it lasted, but by April of last year, we both knew it was over for good. We couldn't even really be friends; our values were too incompatible. It had been good, though, seeing Kerry and Hunter again. As I got to Claudia's house, I shuddered when I realized that I was relieved that Logan's dad hadn't been there yet. I know he was never too fond of me or my family. I often got the feeling that he kind of looked down on me and my family as "lower class" or something. 


	3. Fateful Soccer Game

**_Disclaimer_**: Randy Kirwan is Betsy Haynes' character from the former _Fabulous Five_ series by Betsy Haynes, not this author's.   
  
  
  


**The BSC Legacy – Book 2: Student Stratifications**

_By_: CNJ 

_PG-13_

**3: Fateful Soccor Game**

**Abby**: 

"We've only lost one game this season," I popped the tape out of the VCR in our living room and we headed up to my room. The BSC was having its monthly sleepover that early November and this month it was my turn to be the hostess. We have these slumber celebrations the first Saturday of each month, just something to keep our friendship strong. Anna was there too and we gathered in my room to pig out, played games like Charades and Uno, and most of all, yakyakyak away.   
"We have JUNK FOOD GALORE!" Claudia opened her backpack and pulled out big bags of a variety of chips and cheetos.   
"Awright!" We dug in.   
"Does anybody feel like hot chocolate?" Anna asked. "Ever since it's turned cold, I've been craving chocolate."   
"I have a HUMONGOUS idea!" Claudia jumped up.   
"Uhohh...what?" Mary Anne looked worried.   
"Nothing radical, silly," Claudia continued. "You know how most people top their chocolate with marshmallows?"   
"Umm-hmm..." We glanced at each other.   
"I think we should have MINT-topped chocolate!"   
"Interesting theory," Stacey nodded.   
"I tried some the other night and it was great," Claudia wheedled us back down to the kitchen. I got out two trays. "The mints melt a little after a while, but the chocolate has a minty taste." Anne pulled down a tin pan of pastel mints and once we got the chocolate made, we put in the little mints. Once we carried the chocolate back upstairs, Kristy was first to pick up a cup and take a sip.   
"Not bad...not bad..." she mused. "Now you..." she gestured toward Mary Anne in imitation of the afterlife caseworker in the movie _Beetlejuice_.   
"Creative," was Mary Anne opinion after she'd sipped. "Pretty good."   
"Move over, conventional marshmallows!" I crowed.   
"Make room for mints," Mallory added.   
"You might be able to patent this, Claud," Jessi added. We kept talking and continued to pig out, then started on Uno.   
"How many think we'll make the championship this year?" I asked after Kristy had won two games in a row.   
"It's possible," Stacey told me.   
"Oh, we will," Kristy reshuffled the cards. "We've only lost one game. And I have it on authority that you, Abby are close to scoring more goals than Burkeview's quarterback, Randy Kirwan.   
"Way to go, Abby!" my friends whooped as I grinned. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Kristy**: 

Don't misunderstand me, I have hopes that Abby will take home the high title of the schools. But she's SURE of it. All week after our sleepover, talk of the game bounced around school. Randy, Burkeview's football quarterback was just ahead of a Abby by nine scores. Maybe that's why we'd argued that BSC meeting Friday before the game.   
"Actually, Abby, I'm the one that holds us together," I put in.   
"You may be the leader of the BSC, but you're NOT the expert on our team!" Abby snapped.   
"I never said I was..." I shifted. "I'm just saying if you by some remote chance you don't beat Randy...it's our last chance and I want to make sure..."   
"Thank you, Kristy," Abby rolled her eyes. "I just think it would be swell if our team beat out Randy, the Burkeview big guy quarterback."   
"Abby...this isn't a personal pique on Randy, is it?"   
"I think I'm more mature than that." Abby huffed. "It's about time the Barracudas actually PROVED that not all guys are better than girls in sports."   
"I can vouch..." Stacey nodded. Just then the phone rang and we took a client call. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Claudia**: 

Five more...the Barracudas were winning at that Saturday game. Unfortunately Kristy and Abby were still a little miffed at each other. Abby was then just two more shots away from beating Randy. "Abby...Abby..." we chanted. Sure enough, Abby had then one more...she had the ball again and was heading toward another goal! Just as the ball hit the net, Abby tried to dodge two players who were actually almost on top of her, then one of them tripped and fell over, bringing Abby down on top of her. Three other players who had been running tumbled into the heap and to our shock we heard something break.   
"Someone's hurt!" Mary Anne wailed and we gasped. Coach Loskin called a time-out and the players got up...except Abby, who was groaning. Her arm was twisted at an odd angle.   
"Abby...Abby..." Kristy ran up to her, tears streaking down her face. She sat next to Abby and cried harder. I looked at my friends and they all looked ready to cry also. Mary Anne went ahead and burst into tears as someone got a doctor.   
"Broken..." someone muttered. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Mary Anne**: 

I have never seen Kristy so upset! All of us BSC members were in tears by the time we got to the hospital, but Kristy was still crying hard.   
"She'll be all right," Stacey hugged her. I tried to speak, but couldn't. I was also crying pretty hard myself, so all I could do was hug Kristy. We all then gathered in one big hug and just cried. Anna and Ms. Stevenson were in the family waiting room and were also shaken. We waited for what seemed like a lifetime. Just then some of the Barracudas came in, some of them teary also.   
"Good news," Kathy Maski told us softly. "We won the game and...Abby won the title."   
"Oh, good..." Claudia pulled away and as we wiped our eyes. I handed out tissues. I, being a crier, always carry two packets of tissues with me. I never leave home without them.   
"I shouldn't have p-pushed her to..." Kristy buried her face into her tissue and started crying again. I kept an arm around her and we sat on a couch.   
"Hey..." I whispered. "Don't blame yourself." I had to blow my nose. Just then, Ms. Stevenson peered out, a weak smile on her face.   
"Girls?" she whispered. "Abby's all right. It was a compound fracture on her right arm, but it's been set. She'll be here overnight and can go home tomorrow morning. She's still groggy from anesthesia, so she can only have a few visitors..."   
"You go, Kris," I whispered. She nodded and headed over... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Kristy**: 

It was a relief knowing Abby was going to heal soon, but sad knowing that she wouldn't be playing soccer for the rest of the season. I was able to stop crying when I saw Abby.   
"Hi..." I whispered.   
"Hi, Kris," Abby's arm was in a sling and her eyes were droopy. Fresh tears threatened to burst out. "Hey..." she reached out with her good arm and held my hand. "It's all right. I'm sorry about our fight."   
"Me, too. Why do I have a big mouth?" I wiped my eyes.   
"You don't. Tell me...did I beat Randy?"   
"Yes." I managed a weak smile. "You sure kicked ass out there. Congratulations. I think you are the strongest player. I may be a leader, but I'm not sure I could have won that title."   
"Keep it up, Kristy," Abby smiled weakly. "You're great the way you are. All of us...isn't that why we're a great team...the Barracudas and the BSC?" We hugged and as I left her room, I thought about that. Even when we fight, all of us BSC manage to work together. 


	4. First Target

**The BSC Legacy – Book 2: Student Stratifications**

_By_: CNJ 

_PG-13_

**4: First Target**   
  


**Mary Anne**: 

I had my hand up when Ms. Quebec called on me. As I answered her question, I heard snickering. Nervously, I shifted and looked around. I don't like being laughed at and I had the feeling it was Alan Gray.   
"Looka her, staring around..." I heard when I finished.   
"Huge eyes..."   
"Four eyes..." Randy Greenhold added. Feeling embarrassed, I stared at Ms. Quebec, but she seemed oblivious to what was going on. She asked more question to other kids. Some of the kids kept snickering, kids from that "in" group that snobby kids try to butter up. Finally Ms. Quebec noticed the gigglers.   
"Alll right, Lawrence, I suppose you can answer my next question," she said sharply pointing at the big guy behind Claudia. Lawrence stifled his laughter with a snort and looked in my direction with a sneer, then at Claudia, who glared back at him.   
"She's asking the combination of this compound!" Sara Trenton hissed, holding up her notes.   
"Oh..." Lawrence grinned. "I don't know, but I do know what happens when you cross a bush baby with an owl..." I squirmed, getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as he glanced at me.   
"MARY ANNE SPIER!" he pointed at me and most of the kids cracked up. I winced, feeling tears well up in my eyes. I wanted to crawl into the radiator and hide.   
"Lawrence, that was _not_ funny!" Claudia bellowed.   
"Allllll right, settle down, class!" Ms Quebec smacked her ruler on the board. "Lawrence, apologize to Mary Anne, please." I shook my head, not wanting to be in this embarrassing spotlight.   
"Sorry, owl...I mean Mary Anne," Lawrence faked a look of contriteness. I couldn't wait for the class to be over. I know I have the unfortunate habit of looking around nervously when I'm the center of attention, my eyes huge. When the class ended, Claudia came up and put an arm around me. Tears filled my eyes again and I cried into her shoulder as we went out into the hallway.   
"Mary Anne the bush baby!" Alan Gray jeered cruelly.   
"WAAAAAAAAAAH!" Several kids added, laughing.   
"Just shut up!" Claudia yelled. I kept my face buried in her shoulder.   
"GET OUT OF HERE, IGNORAMUSES!" Kristy's voice yelled. Wiping my eyes, I looked up, grateful to see Kristy. Ms. Quebec was standing in the doorway.   
"Oh, Mary Anne, don't let them upset you." she said. I tried to speak, but only got out a small high squeak.. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Claudia**: 

I'd like to grab everyone in that stupid clique and break all of their necks! Who did they think they were, hurting Mary Anne? Mary Anne was still upset at the BSC meeting later on today. She managed to control her crying in school, but started again when the BSC meeting began. And was still crying when a client called and she wrote down the job. Kristy had told the other BSC members about what had happened, so they knew why Mary Anne was crying. Mary Anne sucked in her breath, tears still streaking her face as she wrote down the appointment. I was amazed at how she could cry and still be so organized. She even grabbed another tissue so she wouldn't drip all over the appointment book. The phone rang and Kristy picked it up. As Kristy was talking, Mary Anne covered her mouth and started a fresh wave of blubbering. Kristy covered the receiver, then hissed at Mary Anne, "Stop...crying!" Well, Mary Anne tried. She managed not to sob so loudly for the rest of the meeting even though her tear glands continued to work overtime. After my friends left, I went down to the kitchen to get another soda, then Janine and I started on dinner. I never should have tried to satisfy my sister's curiosity.   
"Mary Anne seems to be stricken with a bad cold." Janine said. "I hope she's not seriously infected."   
"She isn't sick," I told her.   
"Then why was her nose stopped up and she could barely speak when I let her in?"   
"She was upset over something that happened to her in school."   
"Oh...God!" Janine laughed. "She's some piece of work! She was excreting tears _again_? She is one piece of wet, soaked-up work!"   
"You have a disgusting sense of humor, Janine," I snapped, then ran upstairs. Mary Anne has enough people laughing at her without having my sister join in! 


	5. Things To Come

**The BSC Legacy – Book 2: Student Stratifications**

_By_: CNJ 

_PG-13_

**5: Things To Come**

**_Early December of 10nth grade_**... 

**Stacey**: 

This month, December, we had the sleepover at my house. We saw a movie, then headed to my place. We had Chinese take-out and played pictionary. Claudia the artist loves that game. We stayed up until a little after midnight talking, then drifted off to sleep. I woke at around three in the morning. I heard a strange noise, then a hiccup, then gasping next to me. Mary Anne, I thought. Then I saw her huddle up in her bag, her shoulders jerking.   
"Mary Anne?" I whispered. Mary Anne continued to cry. I touched her gently and she squirmed. "What's the matter?" I stroked her until she crawled out of her bag. Her face was hot and wet with tears and snot. "Come on, let's have a mint cocoa..." I wheedled her up and out of the room. She buried her face into her hands and sniffled. As I made some more cocoa, Mary Anne gained some control over her tears. "Did you have a nightmare?" I sat with her. "Or are you still upset about earlier this week?"   
"N-no..." she whispered.   
"What is it?" I whispered. "You can tell me..."   
"I just..." Fresh tears ran down Mary Anne's face and I handed her tissues.   
"H-had a rotten day today...I mean yesterday...especially when I sat for the Hsus...I th-think...Scott's jealous...remember when I pulled Timmy out from drowning back after eighth grade...well, Scott's jealous and was teasing Timmy and pinching me...it hurt...I kept telling him to stop...and he wouldn't...then I came home and tripped over Tigger and fell in his water dish..." Mary Anne sobbed harder again and I hugged her.   
"I know," I soothed. "Bad days suck...I know. And the worst part is that they seem to last forever." I remembered that at today's BSC meeting, she'd seemed a bit gloomy. "But the best part?"   
"What best part?" Mary Anne blew her nose.   
"The rotten day's over." I smiled. She managed a weak smile also. "Feeling better?"   
"A little," she looked into her cup. "I still feel sad, but I know it won't last forever...thanks, Stace." She reached over and hugged me. Before I drifted off to sleep, I thought about the group at school that's considered the "in" group. I noticed that they often ridicule other kids and I hoped they wouldn't come after us. 


	6. One More Year To The Millennium

**The BSC Legacy – Book 2: Student Stratifications**

_By_: CNJ 

_PG-13_

**6: One More Year To The Millennium**   
  


**Kristy**: 

SHS's production was a full house. Abby had a part in the production (her character had a long robe, so her cast was covered) and Anna played her violin in _Holiday Wish_. Stacey, Shannon, and Jessi are going away for the holidays tomorrow afternoon after school and won't be back until New Year's day, so all of us BSC ran back to my house after the play, Anna included. There, we exchanged the gifts. I put on a tape of holiday music. As we were gushing and thanking each other, the song, _Do They Know It's Christmastime At All_ was playing and it made Mary Anne cry. The song had been part of a relief effort way back in the eighties to ease hunger in Ethiopia. "They're all s-so hungry..." she sobbed. I held her, but she couldn't stop crying.   
"She's right..." Stacey whispered, then her eyes filled up and she started bawling, which started such a chain reaction that the whole BSC ended up in tears. We cried until we were limp. Then the doorbell rang. I wiped my eyes, struggled to my feet, and went to pick up the pizzas we'd ordered.   
"Goodness, is everything all right?" Mom asked as I came downstairs, still a bit unsteady.   
"Oh...yes." I told her. I paid the delivery woman.   
"Your eyes are puffy." Mom peered at me. "Were you crying?"   
"Yeah...we all were..." I told her. "We're all feeling sentimental...we'll survive." I took the pizzas back up and Claudia pulled out sodas and we dug in, feeling a bit better. As we ate, a dog barked and we laughed when we realized it was coming from the radio. It was playing "Jingle Bells" to a dog's barking. The whole thing sounded so funny that we ended up laughing.   
"I think th-the holidays..." Mary Anne tittered, wiping her eyes. "B-br-b-bring out...sadness...and h-happiness-ss in all...us..."   
"M-me too..." Abby was catching her breath.   
"We can hope Christmas starts off a great new year," I added.   
"Nineteen ninety-nine..."Stacey whispered. "The coming year is the last year of the old millennium."   
"Wow, I can't believe it," Mallory added. We sat thinking about that a while as we devoured our feast...in another year, 2000...wow! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Mary Anne**: 

"MARY ANNE!" Dawn was up early, shaking me awake. "We got more snow! Look outside!"   
"Ohhh, Dawn..." I groaned, half-awake, my dream about being somewhere in Moscow slowly shattering. "I know, it's cold here in Russia...it's been snowing about a month..." I rubbed my eyes.   
"Russia?" Dawn was puzzled. "Mary Anne, welcome to the waking world, we're in Connecticut...and it's Christmas day."   
"Oh..." I came awake and pulled my hands away. Sleepily peering out, I saw Stoneybrook was covered with what I guessed to be a foot of snow. "Oh, Dawn, it's beautiful!" I whispered.   
"Merry Christmas!" Sharon, Verna, and Dad peered in.   
"Merry Christmas," Dawn and I responded.   
"Quite a holiday gift," Sharon looked toward the window. "All that snow..." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Claudia**: 

"JANINE!" I called. "Look outside; it's SNOWING. There's a FOOT already!" Janine groaned from her bed, then rolled over. "Merry Christmas, happysnowday..." I sang. Janine slowly woke up, then sat up, peering outside.   
"God..." she whispered, then yawned. I figured she'd sleep late during her break from the Navy Academy, which is way down in Virginia. "Down in Virginia, they usually don't get snow 'till January..." The academy Janine goes to is a smaller one in Virginia, not the big one in Maryland. Hard to believe it was Christmas 1998. One more year before the turn of the millennium. What a thing to live to see.   
  
  


I know these chapters are kind of short; after their holidays, the BSC runs into _real_ trouble with the In clique that is threatening to take over SHS; stay tuned! 


	7. Group Dynamics

**The BSC Legacy – Book 2: Student Stratifications**

_By_: CNJ 

_PG-13_

**7: Group Dynamics**   
  


**Kristy**: 

"...interesting, the group dynamics in school," Claudia finished as we munched on a huge bag of chips and sipped mint- topped chocolate that first Friday night in early January at our monthly sleepover, which was at Mary Anne's place this time. We had been playing Uno and talking about different things from world events, to eye shadow, to books, to school. With the topic of school, the talk had drifted over to the various groups kids seemed to divide themselves into at Stoneybrook High.   
"There's about five or so groups," I put in. "You have the top group, the In crowd that a lot of kids try to butter up, then you have the athletes, then the student government, then next on down is the average kids that hardly anyone notices, then the kids considered outcasts."   
"It's a hierarchy, then," Stacey sipped her chocolate.   
"Like a strata, a social strata," Abby added. "That's why the snobby kids try to butter up the In group."   
"And where are we in this?" Claudia asked.   
"I don't know...we're definitely not in the In group," Mary Anne lay back, crossing her legs backward.   
"No one here's with the government yet," I shuffled the Uno cards, dropping some.   
"You and I are on soccer, but we really don't hang out with the 'jocks,'" Abby pointed out to me. "Most of them are football guys anyway and some of them are into sexist humor." She made a face.   
"We're not really into any group," Abby's twin sister Anna, leaned back on her hands. "The BSC's I guess a group of our own, a small one, but a group all the same."   
"Looks like it," Mary Anne nodded.   
"I wonder where we are on the strata," Claudia wondered.   
"Who knows?" Stacey shrugged. "We're not at the top, but we're not exactly outcasts either."   
"I wonder if it's any valid reason why some kids are outcasted," Mary Anne ran her fingers through her bangs. "Is it just because they're considered weird?" We were all quiet a minute. Most of the "outcasts" were actually a motley crew, but they hung around the fringes. Once or twice, I'd heard other kids making fun of them. Some of those kids did have a valid reason for being at the bottom, like being obnoxious or troublemakers, but some were mostly withdrawn and stood on the sidelines. Those could even blend in with the "averages." The "average" kids were by far the largest group at SHS. They mostly just blend in with the crowd, rarely standing out in any way. They're not necessarily quiet and they are involved in some activities, but mostly...it's hard to explain, I guess it's just they're like mainstream society, or what mainstream society expects "typical" teenagers to be.   
"We're more or less friendly with most of them," I munched on another chip.   
"Except the troublemakers," Anna put in.   
"And the In crowd," Abby added. "I notice we kind of keep our distance from them."   
"Could it be because everyone knows they kind of run a lot of things at school?" Stacey asked.   
"I think that's probably it," I nodded. We thought about the group deal in our school.   
"Well, I'm glad to be in THIS group," Abby sat up. "I'd rather be here than any other."   
"Me too..." "Yeah..." we all chimed in, then started another round of Uno.   


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Stacey**: 

"Think we'll get more snow by this weekend?" Claud asked me Monday morning as we headed to homeroom and sat.   
"I don't know," I shrugged. "It's been below freezing since Saturday. We might." I knew Claudia was hoping for time off school, since school, especially English class is not one of her favorite things. Kids slowly tricked in and I could see some kids were still sleepy on this cold Monday morning. Maybe they should open high schools later, I thought smiling softly as I remembered an article Mom and I had both read in _Time_ magazine about high schools and that some officials think high school should open later since teens actually sleep more than young kids. I then heard a loud snicker and Randy Greenhold booked past my desk with a smaller kid after him.   
"Hey, hey, come on..." the short boy pleaded. "Give it back, it isn't funny anymore..."   
"No...you don't want the world to see your little birthday gift your sweet mommy gave you?" Randy smirked, leaning on the board and holding the notebook high out of the boy's reach.   
"C'mon, it's private..."   
"Ohhhh, it's _private_," Randy jeered and he an another guy laughed. "It's so dear, you don't want anyone to see iiiit!" By then several kids were looking over and the poor guy looked so humiliated.   
"Hey, leave him alone," I stood some.   
"Why should we?" Randy turned and sneered at me. "We're having fun. Wanna join in?"   
"No," I stated. "Just leave him alone."   
"Ohhh, leave him alone..." the other chanted. "Then if we should leave him alone, stay out of our business," he snarled. Just then, Ms. Zarroto came in and Randy dropped the notebook and the guy grabbed it and scooted to his seat. Randy glowered at me, then the short guy, then we all sat. Randy's part of the In clique here, I thought. I got the feeling that lately the In crowd were doing little things like that to other kids and seemed to be everywhere, despite the fact that they're not a big group...maybe around ten or twelve of them. What next, I worried. I hoped it wouldn't spread to more kids either joining them or being picked on. 


	8. Rough Times in the Social Strata

**_Disclaimer_: **Mona Vaughn, Jana Morgan, Randy and most of the Burkeview clique characters belong to Betsy Haynes, not the current author. And of course the BSC characters are Ann Martin's. But the characters neither BSC or Fab Five fans recognize do belong to this author and are copyrighted. Enjoy! 

**The BSC Legacy – Book 2: Student Stratifications**

_By_: CNJ 

_PG-13_

**8: Rough Times In The Social Strata**   
  


**Kristy**: 

I tossed the basketball from one hand to another as I waited for Abby. Only a few kids remained in the halls. I bounced my foot on the wall and pretended to shoot baskets.   
"Hey, where're your paint bucket?" a voice asked. Cokie Mason. I rolled my eyes and ignored her.   
"Hey...that's an ugly sweatshirt you have on," Randy Greenhold's voice joined in.   
"What a slob..." Another kid laughed and I turned and saw Randy, Cokie, Sara Trentwood, Burke Wiley, and several of the kids from the In clique behind me.   
"What...you guys lost something?" I lowered my eyes and tried to look bored.   
"Looks like _you_ lost your coolness," Burke leaned toward me and I stepped back and bumped into the wall. My heart started to pound and my palms began to sweat.   
"What do ya' expect when she hangs around with losers like that Mary Anne owl and that Abby freak?" Sara laughed.   
"Hey..." I started, looked for a way to push out. I debated on punching Burke's face, but it was several of them and one of me. I stared at Burke and tried to laugh in his face. I didn't want them to know I was scared. "Did you just get out of the cafeteria?" I rattled nervously, then forced a laugh. "Looks like you ate their excuse of lettuce and barfed..." I shrugged, trying to look casual, but gulped hard instead. Just then a shrill whistle cut through the tension. Like birds, the clique scattered, thinking maybe a teacher had seen them. I slumped back, closing my eyes in relief.   
"Hey..." It was Abby and she touched my shoulder gently. "Are you all right?"   
"I guess so." I wiped the sweat off my palms. I still felt a little shaky. "Was that your whistle?"   
"Yep." Abby grinned and held up her hand, parting her two middle fingers. Her own special whistle.   
"Thanks," I let out my breath as we headed to basketball practice. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come along." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Oh, Kristy, you weren't..." Mary Anne started to wail at that day's BSC meeting.   
"No, I'm all right now," I told her. I debated on telling my friends how scared I'd really been. I knew Abby had sensed my fear. But I didn't. And anyway, several clients called and we booked several jobs for next week.   
"Well, on to bigger, more important things than some In kids..." Claudia quipped during a pause in calls. "Who's free for New York City this weekend?" Most of us were. Actually, all of us were for Friday night and Saturday, so we made plans for those two days and would come back early Saturday evening. We do this every few months and since last year, when we started high school, we've taken the train there ourselves. It's an hour and a half trip to reach the outskirts of the city and another half hour to get into the city where we usually crash with Stacey's dad and his girlfriend, Samantha. We usually just root around the city. We've been to most of the big landmarks like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty several times as well as other lesser-known landmarks. It's remarkable that most New York City residents don't even have cars since they can get around by subway, bus, or cab. And the subway is open twenty-four hours. We're still too young for most of the drinking clubs, but when we hit eighteen, we plan to try those out too.   
"So my dad knows we're coming," Stacey told us.   
"So, by our meeting, we've packed everything and from there, we take the bus to the station..." Kristy calculated. "We should be there by around eight, eight-thirty at the latest." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Stacey**: 

"...so there's this huge sweatshirt hanging by the basket out on the lawn and it's not one of ours," Kristy finished as we passed by Ms. Liberty in the ferry. We chuckled at Kristy's story of the latest escapades of her younger stepsiblings, Karen and Andrew Brewer and her younger sister, Emily Michelle. Kristy has a huge blended family with seven kids, so there's always something going on in that family. We'd mostly coasted downtown Manhattan and eaten at the Carnegie Deli. Kristy turned and waved at Lady Liberty as if she expected her to actually wave back. It's easy to do since the Statue of Liberty almost seems like a person; she looks so real. We all turned to look at her as we always do when we pass.   
"I like that she looks like a real woman," Mary Anne told us.   
"Me too," I added. Our hair blew in the cold wind and I could imagine Ms. Liberty's hair actually blowing too. Brown, I thought. Her hair would be brown. Actually, I vaguely remembered reading somewhere that she was based on the artist's mom and she really did have brown hair and brown eyes. We've also climbed up the steps inside of her to get a view from her crown a few times. Compared to most of the buildings in the city, she's really not that tall; many of the buildings are over a thousand feet tall while Ms. Liberty's only a hundred feet tall. It's funny, though, how a lot of visitors, especially those from small towns gawk and think it's the hugest thing in the world. But we the BSC know her better. We did that last spring when we visited Ellis Island. Even though I lived in the city for the first twelve years of my life and come back here every so often to visit, Lady Liberty still takes my breath away. Once our ferry docked back on the Manhattan shore, Mary Anne told us that she definitely wanted to live here as an adult.   
"I'm going to apply for college here too," she told us. "I've even looked up a few on the net and there's a Staten U. that's supposed to have a good teaching and psychology program."   
"Hey, sounds good," Claudia put in. "I guess it's not too early to start scouting around colleges." Hard to believe it was just two and a half years before we'd be ready. In another year, we'd be taking our SAT's.   
"Who feels like taking a hike through Greenwich Village?" Kristy called. "Or does anyone feel like hiking the subway to the Roosevelt museum?" Greenwich Village won out, so we headed there. Seeing the different group of people there from punk to bohemian to business-suited reminded my of the groups at SHS. Probably in real life, groups are more complex. And once we grew up and out on our own, we'd run into group dynamics in workplaces and everything. All in all, it was a fun afternoon and we ended up shopping for a lot of little knickknacks that we lugged in little bags all the way home that evening. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Abby**: 

I'm so happy the cast came off my arm the second week in February! It's so good to be able to use my arm again. I hadn't been able to move since November, when I broke it in a soccer game against our rival, Burkeview High. I flexed my arm and hugged Mom. She smiled softly and stoked my arm. "Give it time to strengthen and you'll be back in the field next fall," Dr. Johanssen told us. It was such a relief to have my arm free that later in the week when the BSC were sitting at lunch, I asked, "Think I can still beat out Sosa and that bunch?"   
"I don't know," Kristy peered over. "There's still purple marks at the pit..."   
"WHAT!" I howled. Then I saw my friends cracking up and I had to laugh, too.   
"I'm so glad it wasn't more serious," Mary Anne added in her quiet, earnest voice. "It was awful seeing you hurt." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

That afternoon, we had the first fun assembly in a while. A band from Connecticut International Rounds came and played, then afterwards let us try the instruments. A lot of kids blatted, blew, and wheezed instruments, making everyone laugh, including teachers. I tried one of the guitars and got into it, singing this old song about war being so stupid and people who started wars being idiots. The rest of the BSC loved it and other kids sang along. I ended it with a finale of, "don't be an idiot, too and start a war..." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Kristy**: 

I was at my locker the next day after school when I heard somebody laughing."...God, can you believe the idiot Abby made of herself yesterday..." I froze, listening and saw two kids from that In group at school, you know the ones that think they're so cool.   
"She always makes a fool of herself," the other kid added. "I wonder why Kristy and Mary Anne aren't embarrassed by her."   
"Simple...they're as unhip as her. That whole baby-sitting bunch are all wierdos..." They moved down the hall, leaving me fuming. I slammed my locker shut and toyed with the idea of grabbing them and dragging them to the cafeteria and dumping greasy spinach sauce on them. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Abby**: 

I wonder if I got carried away at that assembly? My friends reassure me that I didn't, but I hear kids laughing at me in the hall and pointing. I even heard somebody chanting that anti-war theme in a singsong kind of voice. I was the last to arrive at the cafeteria and we all were eating and talking.   
"Heeey, seaweed Stevenson!" Randy Greenhold called two tables down.   
"Ignore him," Stacey whispered. We tried, but it was hard... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Mary Anne**: 

I'm worried about Abby. Kids are ridiculing her. She's trying to take it in stride and laugh it off, but I think it's getting to her. I think the In crowd at school targets some kids and the BSC is one of their targets. A few weeks ago, Kristy had a scary incident with some of them and Abby scared them off just in time. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Abby**: 

I was at my locker when Randy called, "Hey, seaweed...made an idiot of yourself lately?" I tried to ignore him, even though my heart was pounding. I felt a push on my shoulder.   
"Lay off..." I said in a low, shaky voice. Inside, I felt like I was dying. Randy and Burke snickered coldly.   
"Hey, back off!" Kristy bellowed as she and Mary Anne came up. I closed my locker. Mary Anne glanced nervously at Randy and tried not to shrink back.   
"Hey, here's the owl and the slob to join the seaweed!" Randy jeered. Mary Anne winced, tears welling in her eyes. Randy and Alan Gray had pinned on Mary Anne "the owl" and laughed at her. It had hurt Mary Anne so deeply that she couldn't stop crying for hours.   
"Just SHUT UP, imbecile!" Kristy barked.   
"Who...are you telling to shut up?" Randy taunted, stepping close to Kristy.   
"You...who else...or what else?" Kristy pointed. Just then Randy's hand flew out and Kristy ducked and landed a kick on Randy. The whole few minutes dissolved into a fistfight. Mary Anne gave a scared scream. I reached out as if to break them up, but decided against it. Just then, Ms. Debois, our geometry teacher, came out of her classroom, raced down the hall and broke them up.   
"What...is going ON here!?" she demanded. Kristy and Randy glared at each other, breathing hard. Mary Anne was in tears by this time and I was close to them myself.   
"It was Randy," I told her. "He started...taunting us..."   
"Fighting is not tolerated at Stoneybrook High!" Ms. Debois stated. "Randy and Kristy, both of you have detention and if I hear about fighting between you again..."   
"I understand..." Kristy nodded.   
"Yes...MAAM," Randy panted. Mary Anne put her hand over her mouth and let loose fresh floodgates. Ms. Debois handed her a tissue and stroked her. Slowly, the three of us left the building.   
"That..." Kristy mumbled a string of choice words under her breath. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Claudia**: 

It seems like we're one of the main targets for the IN group at school. It was a scary thought.   
"We'd better really stick together," I told everyone at the next BSC meeting. "If we lose each other, we're dead." Kristy and Abby had told us about Kristy's fight with Randy Greenhold.   
"How the hell are we going to fight back?" Stacey asked in a thin, tight voice, her mouth trembling.   
"By sticking together," Kristy announced. "We have to look out for each other. Let's make sure we try not to be alone anywhere in the halls or bathroom." We nodded. Mary Anne, Stacey, and Abby were shaking by the end of the BSC meeting. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

They seemed everywhere for a rather small group. I saw them also picking on other kids as well. Cold comfort knowing we weren't the only targets. Several times during the next few weeks, I glanced at teachers, wondering if they knew some of the stuff that went on. Some of them seemed to, but others seemed out of it. Still, there were others...   
I was headed to math class when I overhead Ms. Zarroto and Ms. Quebec talking.   
"...just an adolescent thing," Ms. Quebec seemed to say.   
"But it has me concerned," Ms. Zarroto put in. "Do we just stand by and let the kids work it out themselves?"   
"I've seen cliques in most schools I've taught at," Ms. Quebec said. "Usually once they get out of school, they're history."   
"I'm still going to watch out for some of the more vulnerable kids," Ms. Zarroto put her pen on her clipboard. "We can't let it get too far. I've read the news about school violence and some of it stems from seemingly innocent groups like these..." As I continued walking, I just hoped the In clique wouldn't get out of hand. But they seemed to be pushing limits further every day. Later at lunch, I was standing in line with Abby, Mary Anne, Kristy, and Stacey when snickers came up around us. I turned, but no one was there, not near us. The other kids seemed busy eating and talking among themselves.   
_Just ignore them,_ Abby mimed to me. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet and now was trying not to be heard. _Don't attract their attention_. _Who just laughed?_ Mary Anne mimed, a worried frown knotting her brows. We heard snickers again, this time close to us and tried not to turn to look at them, although we knew who they were. Kristy shrugged and pretended to act casual, saying out loud, "So...did anyone think this morning's algebra quiz was hard?"   
"Some," I said gamely as more low laughter rose around us.   
"Sooo, what's the secret mouthing message signal this time?" Sara sneered, leaning close to us. She glanced back at Randy, who sneered at us. Burke snorted with laughter. Mary Anne tried to squirm away.   
"Heyy, we're just curious," Burke came up and stepped so close some of us moved back. "Gonna let us in or make us guess?"   
"'Cause then we think you're all wierdos," Randy sneered.   
"It's their REAL names, of course, like Seaweed and Owl!" Burke laughed. Several kids turned to look at us and Abby started to shake. "How 'bout some real food to show the real Baby-sitters?" He leaned over toward the counter.   
"Touch us with that food and we'll kill you," I snarled. "Come on, let's find a table." We darted over to the nearest table, feeling like we were being watched and laughed at.   
"Rain check for another tiiime!" Randy taunted. Quiet tears ran down Mary Anne's face and all of us were quiet. We were going to eat, but most of our appetite was gone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Stacey**: 

We'd been trying to stay together at school, but later in the week found myself unexpectedly alone in the hallway when Kristy, who was in my last class, had to see the teacher about something. I told her I'd meet her at the locker and headed there. Most of the kids seemed to be gone, so I went there, got my books, then slowly paced between the classroom and the locker section. I heard a door slam, the someone streaked out of the gym so fast it was a blur. It was a sophomore and she tore down the hall like she was fleeing hot lava.   
"You won't be doing that again!" Toni Marks' voice trailed after her and she, Sara, Randy, and several other In clique kids tore down the hall after her. To my horror, they caught up with her down the hall at the stairwell and grabbed her jacket.   
"Get her purse!" Randy crowed.   
"I got the shampoo..."   
"We oughta get her locker too...where is it?"   
"There..."   
It was just a few minutes, but it seemed like an hour that I watched this awful scene unfold as they dumped the shampoo in her purse, then into the slats of her locker. I turned and ran to get Kristy. Thank the stars she was coming out. I told her what was happening. Unfortunately the teacher was gone by then, so we headed back into the hall, where the poor girl was crying and trying to wipe the mess out of her purse. The In clique was standing by, laughing. Some of them bumped into her, knocking her soaked books to the ground.   
"Hey, knock it off!" Kristy and I yelled. They turned to stare at us.   
"You losers again," Randy spat.   
"You're the losers," Kristy told him. Randy stepped up to Kristy and for a terrified minute, I thought they'd get into another fistfight. But then he snickered again.   
"Just look at this...the slob and doughgirl on display," he taunted. Just then, the sophomore scrambled to pick up her things and ran out of there. We stood in a silent standoff.   
"Let's go..." I whispered. "I think we told them..."   
"There they go with those idiotic pantomiming again," Toni laughed cruelly. I turned and walked down the hall, pulling Kristy with me. Their laughter bounced down the hall after us.   
"Look at them ruuun!" Burke bellowed. "They pull a good samaritan for the underdogs of this school, but they themselves wimp out when it comes to facing us!"   
"Hey, it's all right," Kristy unclenched her fists and wiped my face, which was streaked with tears.   
"Oh, K-Kristy, how are we going to deal with those snobs?" I sobbed.   
"I'm not sure," Kristy muttered. "But we won't let them run over us." She put an arm around me as we walked home. But I got the sinking feeling that they were already running over us. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Claudia**: 

They say February is the shortest month of the year, but it seemed long to us. Maybe it's because we would head to school each morning, thinking out way to avoid humiliation by the In crowd. We tried to make sure we walked to school together and at least two of us headed home together. We'd be damned if they'd drive out of after-school activities, so if one of us had an activity, someone else would volunteer to wait for her. Since Mary Anne and I had yearbook and newspaper on Thursdays, we were fortunate there. March came and we had our monthly sleepover. Once away from school, we could relax more. Our BSC meetings become the rock in our rocky social standing at school. At Aster and Dusker's, so many kids from so many different schools went there on weekends, so we went over there on Friday before our sleepover and got drinks and chicken legs.   
"Wellll, well..."a voice came up to our table as a shadow fell over our booth. A group from Burkeview stood over us, Randy Kirwan, Jana Morgan, Melanie Edwards, Beth Barry, and another guy we didn't know seem to have materialized out of nowhere. I sure didn't like that tone of voice.   
"Look who's here but the kiddie-co-op," the guy taunted. Melanie, Beth, and Jana laughed. We all exchanged one long stricken look. Not here too. How had these kids heard about us? Oh, easy, same as we heard about them in ninth grade.   
"What the shit do you want?" Kristy growled.   
"How 'bout your cap?" Randy reached out and grabbed Kristy's baseball cap.   
"Hey!" I grabbed the cap back and tucked it under me.   
"We heard who you are," Melanie jeered. She poked Jana, who gave us a menacing stare. Mary Anne's eyes were full of tears and she tried to wipe them away with a trembling hand.   
"Need some tissues?" Jana singsonged and tossed napkins into Mary Anne's soda. "Gonna cryyyy?" Mary Anne just nodded.   
"HEY!" Abby snapped. "Just shut your socially elite mouth!"   
"You shut your face before you make a BIGGER idiot of yourself," Randy taunted. Abby paled and looked down. They slowly backed into the next table, laughing and pointing at us. We hoped they were done with us, but as they ate, they pointed at us and laughed and made hurtful comments that carried over to us. Some other kids who saw them looked over at us and laughed, too. Mary Anne cried softly. Stacey and Abby looked miserable. Kristy and I were FUMING! So Burkeview has their share of assholes too.   
"Why don't you leave them alone?" one quiet voice carried over. The Burkeview clique looked startled a minute and so were we. We looked up and saw a girl there with dark hair and a slight overbite standing between our two tables. She was clutching a soda and staring coldly at the Burkeview gang. "What did they ever do to you?"   
"Hey, we were just having fun..." the other guy.   
"Who died and gave you all the right to run over others?" the girl challenged, keeping her voice low and cold. "So you're all popular and the I'm not and maybe they're not. But you should know...being 'popular' isn't the same as being liked or respected. Keep that in mind." The Burkeview kids fell silent and I sensed they were embarrassed.   
"I guess..." Jana looked away, avoiding the girl's stare. "We'd better head to that movie, Randy."   
"Yeah..." the other guy muttered. They shot out of there so fast you'd have thought they were on fast-forward video tape.   
"Thanks," we all told the girl, who introduced herself as Mona Vaughn.   
"No problem," Mona smiled at us. We invited her to sit with us for a few minutes and we talked. "I'm getting sick of seeing that BIG crowd run Burkeview," Mona told us.   
"Same here," I added, thinking of SHS. "I mean...at our school, there's a crowd like that...they pick on other kids and just think they're cool stuff."   
"They probably just "hang out" all the time, right?" Mona asked. "Not really involved in any activities, except maybe sports or cheerleading and make fun of kids who have an interest in anything and waste their time acting cynical and just sit around doing nothing, am I right?"   
"Yeah..." Kristy nodded. It was true. Few of the members of the IN group got involved in any of the school activities and mostly just...hung out.   
"Going to the movies?" Mona asked. We shook our heads.   
"Sleepover," Kristy told her. "We have one every month."   
"Oh, that's nice...well, my sister Amber has the flu...so I'm headed home to see if she's okay...have a good time, you all," Mona called as she left our table.   
"Hope your sister's better," Mary Anne called.   
"Thanks again," I added. We sat for a minute, then paid for our food, wrapped it up and headed over to my house, where we were having our sleepover.   
"We're not so alone now," Stacey commented on the way there.   
"I guess it's because other schools are dealing with the same thing," I put in.   
"Other kids who are being picked on probably feel alone," Mary Anne said softly. Fresh tears started to well in her eyes, but slowly dried. "Maybe if we could reach out to them..."   
"Do you think Ms. Silverbein could do something about them?" Abby asked.   
"Hard to say," Kristy shrugged. "Trouble is, most of the crap they pull is after school or away from teachers or her, so we'd have to have proof and it'd be their word against ours." I just hoped they wouldn't ruin Stoneybrook High for not only us, but for future students.   
  
  


Stay tuned for more! 


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